COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

Subject (Course): The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Syllabus:

1. Introduction to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
2. Integration process of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
   - Preferential Trade Area
   - Free Trade Area
   - Customs Union
   - Common Market
3. Economic Community
4. Investment Agreement for the COMESA Common Investment Area.
5. COMESA and the Aid for Trade Strategy. Trade Promotion
6. Monetary Cooperation in the COMESA Region
7. Infrastructure in the COMESA region.
   - Transport Corridors
8. The Economy of the COMESA Region
   - Foreign Trade
   - FDI trends
9. COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
10. COMESA-United States Trade and Investment Framework Agreement
11. History of the COMESA
12. COMESA Strategy
13. COMESA Institutions
    - Leather and Leather Products Institute (LLPI)
    - Regional Investment Agency
    - COMSTAT Data Portal
    - African Trade Insurance Agency
    - Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa
    - Federation of National Associations of Women in Business in Eastern and Southern Africa
    - Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank.
14. Case Study: Investing in textile, oilseeds, and leather sector.
15. Business in COMESA countries

The objectives of the subject “The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)” are the following:

1. To understand the aims, functions, and institutions of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
2. To know the economy of the COMESA region
3. To analyse the steps of the COMESA integration: free trade area, customs union, common market and economic community
4. To evaluate the benefits for COMESA's member countries
5. To know programs of trade facilitation and transport of the COMESA
6. To analyse the role of affiliated institutions: the PTA Bank, the COMESA Reinsurance Company, ACA
7. To learn about the Initiative of the Nile Basin, the Indian Ocean Commission and the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Region
   

Sample of the subject: Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

Subject Description: COMESA (The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa).

COMESA: 50% of FDI inflows in Africa.

The strategy of the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) is the “economic welfare through the regional integration in Southern Africa.”

The COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) members economies are Burundi, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, the Arab Republic of Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

1. Former members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA): Lesotho (1997), Mozambique (1997), Tanzania (2000), Namibia (2004), and Angola (2007).
2. These countries are predominantly Christians. Muslim countries are the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Somalia, and Sudan.

The objective of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is to develop a Free Trade Area removing all internal trade tariffs and barriers.

The COMESA Free Trade Area was achieved in 2000 when nine of the member economies (Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) eliminated their tariffs on originating products from Eastern and Southern African countries.

This followed an international trade liberalisation programme that started in 1984 on reduction (and eventual elimination) of tariff and non-tariff barriers to international trade in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region.

Burundi and Rwanda joined the COMESA Free Trade Area in 2004.

These eleven economies of the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) Free Trade Area have not only eliminated customs tariffs but are working on the eventual elimination of quantitative restrictions and other non-tariff barriers.

Other objectives which will be met to assist in the achievement of trade promotion include:

1. Regional Trade liberalisation and customs cooperation.
2. Improving the administration of transport and communications to ease the movement of export products, services, and people between the economies in the COMESA region.
3. Creating an enabling environment and legal framework
4. Coordination of macroeconomic and monetary policies.

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) plans to become a customs union. Practically all countries in Southern Africa will belong to a customs union and those countries that at this time belongs to more than one Regional Economic community will decide which customs union to join.

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) belongs to the African Civilisation.

1. Southern African Economic Area
2. East African Economic Area
3. Central African Economic Area

The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank was created in 1985 following the dispositions of the Treaty of 1981 establishing the Preferential Trade Area, which has since been transformed into the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African States (COMESA), as a financial arm of the integration arrangement.

COMESA Customs Union

Trans-African Corridors in the COMESA region:

1. Northern Corridor
2. Lobito Corridor
3. Tripoli-Windhoek
4. Cairo-Gaborone
5. Beira-Lobito
6. North-South Corridor
7. Lagos-Mombasa

The largest ports in the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) region:

1. Port of Mombasa
2. Port Said
3. Port Sudan
4. Port of Djibouti
5. Port of Toamasina

Indian Ocean Commission.